Rick Nash
| birth_place = Brampton, Ontario, Canada | draft = 1st overall | draft_year = 2002 | draft_team = Columbus Blue Jackets | career_start = 2002 | website = }} Rick Nash (born on June 16, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted out of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) by the Columbus Blue Jackets first overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, he played with the London Knights for two seasons, earning the Emms Family Award in 2001 as league rookie of the year. He began his NHL career with the Columbus Blue Jackets the season immediately following his draft, 2002-2003, and was nominated for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. In his second NHL season, Rick scored a career-high 41 goals to tie with Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk for the Rocket Richard Trophy as league goal-scoring champion. He is also a five-time NHL All-Star and has been awarded the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2009 for his work in the community. Internationally, Rick has represented Team Canada extensively. He won a silver medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships, two World Championships silver medals, a gold at the 2007 World Championships and a gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Rick has also competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. On January 7th, 2014, he was named to the 2014 Canadian Olympic Hockey Team. Playing Career Early Playing Career Rick played minor hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League where he caught the attention of OHL scouts in 1999. He played for the London Knights for two season in the OHL. Rick began his major junior career with 66 points in his first year, receiving the Emms Family Award as the league's top rookie. The following season, he amassed 72 points in 54 games and was subsequently selected 1st overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus Blue Jackets Joining the Blue Jackets immediately after his draft year in 2002–03, Rick debuted on October 10, 2002 and scored a goal in a 2–1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. He was the eighth No. 1 overall pick to score a goal in their first game and the first to do so in his draft year since Mario Lemieux in 1984. During that season, Rick was nominated for the Calder Trophy, as the NHL's best rookie, but lost to defenceman Barret Jackman of the St. Louis Blues. However, he would join Jackman on the NHL All-Rookie Team. In Rick's sophomore campaign, he improved his rookie goal total from 17 to 41, a career high that tied Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk for the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals in the league. At the age of 19, Rick was the youngest player in history to lead the league in goals. Recording 16 assists, he finished the year with 57 points. During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Rick played for HC Davos of the Swiss Nationalliga A (NLA). He scored 26 goals and 46 points in 44 games and added 11 more points (9 goals, 2 assists) in 15 games in the NLA playoffs. Joined by fellow NHL-er Joe Thornton, Davos went on to win the Swiss Championship, as well as the 2004 Spengler Cup. With the NHL set to resume play in 2005–06, the Blue Jackets re-signed Rick to a five-year, $27 million contract. The deal saw his annual salary increase each year with $3.5 million the first season and $7 million in the last season of the contract for a $5.4 million average salary, however, knee and ankle injuries sidelined Rick for much of the first half of the season. Missing 28 games total, Nash was still named to Team Canada for the 2006 Olympics, shortly after being activated from the injured reserve. Upon returning from a seventh place finish in Turin, Nash completed the season at a point-per-game pace with 54 points in 54 games. In 2006–07, Rick matched his sophomore points total with 57 and he was named to the Western Conference All-Star Team for the second time in his career. He has been Columbus' lone representative both times. He scored the game-winning goal in the West win. The following season, on January 17, 2008, Rick scored what many commentators called the "goal of the year" in the final minute versus the Phoenix Coyotes. Breaking a tied score, he deked around two defenders and the goaltender to score the eventual game-winner. Later, at the end of the season, the goal was nominated for an ESPY Award in the category of Best Play. Selected to his third All-Star Game in 2008 that season, Rick scored the quickest goal in All-Star Game history, just 12 seconds in and ended the game with a hat trick. Completing the season with 38 goals and 69 points, Rick nearly matched his personal best goals total and set a career high for points and assists. On March 12, 2008 (shortly before the end of the season) Rick was also named the fifth captain in Blue Jackets history, replacing the recently traded Adam Foote. In May of 2008 during the off-season, Rick was named the cover athlete and spokesman for NHL 2K9. Going into the 2008–09 campaign, the Blue Jackets had gone without a playoff appearance in franchise history. Led by the newly appointed captain Nash and bolstered by rookie goaltender Steve Mason, the Blue Jackets finished the season as the seventh seed in the Western Conference to earn a post-season berth against division-rival the Detroit Red Wings. The series was preceded by an 8–2 rout over the Red Wings on March 7, 2009, a game in which Rick scored three unassisted goals. According to the Columbus Dispatch, citing the Elias Sports Bureau, the last player to score three goals unassisted was Maurice "Rocket" Richard (who scored four) against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on March 14, 1948. Despite the convincing victory late in the season the Blue Jackets lost in four games. In addition to leading the Blue Jackets to the playoffs, Rick had a career season with 79 points, in addition to scoring 40 goals for the first time since 2003–04. On July 3, 2009 in the off-season, he signed an eight-year contract extension with the Blue Jackets worth $62.4 million set to take effect in 2010–11. As the 2011–12 season began to unfold, Columbus recorded a dismal 2–12–1 record, the worst start to an NHL season by any team in 19 years. With the team struggling, rumors began circulating that the Blue Jackets were contemplating trading Nash as a solution to their on-ice woes. While General Manager Scott Howson stated publicly that he had had no discussions regarding a Nash deal, other teams had indeed inquired about his availability. When asked about it, Rick stated that if the franchise felt it could improve itself by dealing him, he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause in order to get the deal done. Even though Howson had previously maintained that he had no intention of trading Rick, two weeks before the trade deadline he stated in the press that the team was open to all options and they were willing to listen to trade proposals for Rick, despite not actively shopping him. Speculation was that in return for Rick, the Blue Jackets would ask for a top 6 forward, a top prospect, and a first round draft pick. Trade speculation continued on into the summer with no deal imminent. While Howson claimed he merely wanted to receive "market value" in any deal for Rick, there was speculation that his asking price was too high for many rival NHL GMs to consider. Columbus eventually found a trade partner in the New York Rangers. Rick (along with Steven Delisle and a conditional third round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft were traded to the Rangers for Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon and a 2013 first round draft pick. New York Rangers During the ongoing 2012–13 NHL lockout, Rick signed a contract to play with HC Davos again. In late September of 2012 while playing for HC Davos, he injured his shoulder and left the game. Rick had a successful first regular season with the Rangers scoring 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points in 44 games played in the lockout shortened season. In the playoffs, he underwhelmed with only one goal and four assists in 12 playoff games. Rick opened the 2013-2014 season well, with 3 assists in 2 games, however on October 8th, 2013 in a game against the San Jose Sharks, he suffered a concussion due to a hit from Brad Stuart which caused him to miss 17 games. On November 21, 2013, Rick scored his first goal of the season in a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars. Career Statistics International Statistics Awards & Achievements OHL Awards *OHL All-Rookie Team (2001) *Emms Family Award (rookie of the year) (2001) CHL Awards *CHL All-Rookie Team (2001) NHL Awards *NHL All-Rookie Team (2003) *Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (2004) (shared with Ilya Kovalchuk and Jarome Iginla) *NHL All-Star Game appearance (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011) *NHL Foundation Player Award (2009) NLA Awards *Best Swiss League forward (2004–05) International Awards *World Championships gold medal (2007) *World Championships MVP (2007) *World Championships All-Star Team (2007 and 2008) *Gold medal (2010 Winter Olympic Games) Other Awards *Best Play ESPY Award nomination (2008) International Play }} In Rick's second junior season, he was chosen to play for Team Canada's junior squad in the 2002 World Junior Championships, scoring 3 points in a silver medal effort. Rick would make his senior international debut for Team Canada at the 2005 World Championship, leading the tournament in goals while earning his second silver medal. In 2006 (shortly after returning from an injury), Rick was selected to play on Team Canada's Olympic team, but he managed just one point in a disappointing seventh place finish. The following year, Rick captured his first gold medal with Team Canada at the 2007 World Championship in a 4–2 victory over Finland in Moscow. Scoring two goals in the gold medal game against Finland and 11 points total, he was named to the tournament All-Star Team and earned MVP honours. Rick appeared in his third World Championship in 2008, but failed to repeat as gold medal champion with Canada, earning silver. In the championship game against Russia, Rick attempted to clear the puck in overtime, but accidentally shot it over the glass, resulting a delay of game penalty. On the powerplay, Russia capitalized, defeating Canada 5–4. Despite his misplay, Rick was named to the tournament All-Star Team for the second consecutive year, finishing with 13 points. On December 30, 2009, he was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. After starting the tournament on Sidney Crosby's wing, he was switched to a line with Mike Richards and Jonathan Toews (who was named Best Forward). He earned his first Olympic medal in the tournament as Team Canada went on to win gold. Rick was named captain of Team Canada for the 2011 IIHF World Championship. Canada finished fifth in the tournament. Personal Life Rick attended Brampton Centennial Secondary School. Category:Columbus Blue Jackets players Category:1984 births Category:New York Rangers players Category:Columbus Blue Jackets draft picks Category:HC Davos players Category:London Knights alumni Category:Canadian ice hockey players